(Left to Right) Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco star in ‘About My Father.’
Opening in theaters on the 26th of May is the new comedy ‘About My Father’, written by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and loosely based on his own life.
What is the plot of ‘About My Father?’
Directed by Laura Terruso (‘Work It’), ‘About My Father’ centers around Sebastian Maniscalco (played by himself), who is encouraged by his fiancé (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant father, hairdresser, Salvo (Robert De Niro), to weekend get-togethers with his super-rich and wildly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, Anders Holm and Brett Dier). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a clash of cultures, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to find out that the great thing about family is everything it’s all about.
“The feathers will ruffle.”
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America’s hottest comic, Sebastian Maniscalco joins forces with Italian-American legend and two-time Oscar® winner, Robert De Niro (Best Actor, Raging Bull,… Read the Plot
Who is the cast of ‘About My Father?’
‘About My Father’ stars Sebastian Maniscalco (‘The Irishman’) as himself, Robert De Niro (‘Goodfellas’, ‘Meet the Parents’) as Salvo Maniscalco, Leslie Bibb (‘Iron Man’) as Ellie, Kim Cattrall (‘Sex and the City’) as Tigger Collins, David Rasche (‘Burn After Reading’) as Bill Collins, Anders Holm (‘The Muppets Mayhem’) as Lucky Collins, and Brett Dier (‘Fresh’) as Doug Collins.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago, Illinois to speak directly with Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco about their work on ‘About My Father,’ Maniscalco’s process of writing the screenplay, why De Niro wanted to play Salvo, the Oscar winning process, and if Sebastian is nervous about meeting De Niro with his father in real life.
(Left to Right) Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro in ‘About My Father.’ Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.
Moviefone: First of all, Sebastian, can you talk about writing the screenplay, the inspiration you took from your own relationship with your father, and what was your process like in bringing this story to the big screen?
Sebastian Maniskalco: So Austin Earl, co-writer, who actually writes a lot of the dialogue, I gave him the characters, what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. He really put it together and wrote some really fantastic scenes. So the characters are inspired by the peaks of different people and then we give each character a different character. Austin really came out with some fantastic scenes. I gave the character details, what they would say and how they would say it, and he wrote the lines. Just extracting the relationship that I had with my father and then fine-tuning it into a film, that was sort of the inspiration for writing the script. I wanted to talk about my relationship with my dad and also meet my wife’s side of the family, and I thought that was a great playground for comedy.
MF: Mr. De Niro, what was your first reaction to the Sebastian scenario and what were some of the aspects of the character that you were most eager to explore on screen?
Robert DeNiro:Paul Weitz sent me the script. Paul has directed me in two films and he is producing this. I read it and then I said, “Can we read it?” Which I do a lot of just to, like I like to say, see if it lifts off the page a bit. So we get a lot of actors, not actors who are going to be in it, but just actors who want to read for the sake of it and help us. I met (director) Laura Terruso, and I loved her and she was from that world. Both of his parents came from Italy. Sebastian, his dad, met him and all of that, it’s all on good grounds. So after reading, I said, “Yeah, that’s great for me. I want to do that.”
Robert De Niro as Salvo in ‘About My Father.’ Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.
MF: What was it like meeting Sebastian’s father, Salvo, and how did that help prepare you for this role?
Robert DeNiro: Well, Salvo, I saw through the script, through his eyes who he was, and then I met him. He’s different to me, obviously but I still have questions for him about the script and stuff. I love it and I know there are lots of things we can do together, what is written as well as what is not written. But there will be room because he knows the world, I know the world, and Laura knows. There are ways to have fun with this. So all is well.
MF: Finally, Sebastian, are you nervous about working with Mr. De Niro, starring in a film, or making a personal film?
Sebastian Maniskalco: Yes, I was nervous about doing the film. I was nervous during this whole process. A lot of anxiety, just questioning if I could do this or not, memorizing lines, which I also found really hard. I mean, I’m turning 50 this year and I’m like, man, it’s not coming as fast as it used to. In my twenties, a script, give me that thing. Now I’m sitting there, okay, is this right there? I have to go through it, again and again. So many different new experiences for me in this whole process. But now that it’s done and I see it, I’m like, oh wow. Because during that time, you don’t know what’s going on. Then when you see it all put together, you’re like, oh yeah. No that’s fine.
(Left to Right) Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro in ‘About My Father.’ Photo Credit: Dan Anderson.
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‘About My Father’ is being produced by Lionsgate, and Depth of Field, and hits theaters May 26.